JP4621302B2 - Functional film sticking apparatus and functional film sticking method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a functional film sticking apparatus and a functional film sticking method suitable for sticking a transparent functional film to an inner surface of a transparent casing constituting a display unit of a small electronic device and integrating the transparent functional film with the transparent casing. It is.

  Conventionally, a transparent touch panel is placed on a display screen of a liquid crystal display device, etc., and a desired function is directly selected by touching an icon displayed on the display screen with a finger via the transparent touch panel. A display device with an input function that can be used is used, and as the transparent touch panel, a resistive film method, a capacitive coupling method, and the like are known as described in JP-T-2003-511799.

  The capacitively coupled transparent touch panel has a plurality of X electrodes and a plurality of Y electrodes arranged in a grid, and the principle of operation is that the two electrodes form a stable electric field when not operated, The electric field changes when the finger approaches, and the position is detected by detecting the change in the capacitance value.

  This type of transparent touch panel is basically a multi-layer structure consisting of a transparent substrate, conductive film and antifouling film, and since there is no air layer between layers and no moving parts, it is compact on the inner surface of the transparent casing that constitutes the display unit. The liquid crystal display unit can be clearly seen through the transparent touch panel.

  By using such a transparent touch panel, a handwriting input function can be added to a thin and slim mobile phone, or a portable game machine, a PDA (personal digital assistant), a digital camera in addition to the mobile phone The coordinate input function can be added to a display unit such as a video camera.

  As the transparent substrate, a substrate using a flexible plastic film that can be deformed into various shapes has been put into practical use. For example, when this plastic film type transparent touch panel is attached to the inner surface of a casing of a mobile phone, for example Usually, a transparent touch panel and a housing are bonded together using a transparent adhesive sheet.

  However, since most of the mobile phone cases to which the transparent touch panel is attached have tray-like parts with side walls standing around it, the transparent touch panel can be attached to the slimmed inside of the case. Needs to arrange a transparent touch panel just before the side wall of the housing, and securely bond the transparent touch panel located just before the side wall to the housing.

  Such a sticking operation to securely attach the transparent touch panel located just between the side walls to the inner surface of the housing is not easy, and air bubbles are often mixed between the transparent touch panel and the inner surface of the housing, or the positional accuracy between the two is poor. There is a problem that the yield cannot be secured and the yield is lowered.

  In addition, not only the bonding of the transparent touch panel and the housing, but also when a so-called functional film in which an antenna pattern or a circuit is formed on a plastic film and a tray-like component are pasted, the same problem as described above occurs. appear.

  In addition, after a long roll-shaped material is supplied, and the registration of the transferred object and the pattern of the transfer material is matched, the heating roll heated to about 200 ° C. is heated and pressed while rotating on the transfer material. A transfer device (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-147339) for fusing an adhesive layer of the transfer material to a transfer material is also known, but this type of transfer device does not join transparent materials together. In addition, since the adhesive layer, which is the lowermost layer in the transfer layer, is fused to the transfer target by heating / pressurization of a heating roll, both are simply laminated on the transfer target. There is no adhesion, so air bubbles are not a problem.

  On the other hand, when a transparent touch panel is pasted on the transparent part of the tray-like component, a transparent touch panel with a transparent adhesive sheet having a sticky surface is laminated on the transparent part of the tray-like component. Bubbles are easily mixed, and the mixed bubbles cause color unevenness in the display portion and become a defect.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the problems in pasting the conventional transparent touch panel as described above, and can reliably bond the functional film and the tray-like component at an accurate position without mixing bubbles. A functional film sticking apparatus and a functional film sticking method are provided.

The present invention positions a tray-like component having a transparent portion and moves it in a substantially horizontal direction, and the tray-like component positioned on the movable table is transparent with a transparent adhesive sheet. A transparent functional film positioning mechanism that positions the functional film so that the transparent adhesive sheet faces the transparent part; and an attaching mechanism that attaches the transparent functional film to the transparent part of the tray-like component;
The sticking mechanism includes a guide erected in a substantially vertical direction, a movable frame that moves up and down along the guide, and a horizontal axis that is provided at a lower portion of the movable frame and is perpendicular to the moving direction of the movable table. And an elastic pressing portion formed in a convex shape in the circumferential direction along the outer peripheral surface of the floating shaft, and the developed shape of the elastic pressing portion is affixed to the transparent functional film. It is a functional film sticking apparatus comprised so that it might correspond with the planar shape of a range.

  According to the functional film sticking apparatus of the present invention, there is an advantage that the transparent functional film can be stuck at an accurate position without introducing bubbles into the transparent part of the tray part.

  The said transparent functional film applied to the functional film sticking apparatus of this invention can be comprised from a transparent touch panel.

  In addition, the transparent functional film includes a transparent flexible film having various functions depending on applications such as conductivity, insulation, environmental stability, etc. In addition to the transparent touch panel, a transparent antenna, transparent Wiring etc. are illustrated.

  In the functional film affixing device of the present invention, the tray-like component is configured by a curved surface if a drive unit for raising and lowering the movable frame is provided and a spring mechanism is provided between the drive unit and the movable frame. In addition, since the elastic pressing portion can follow the curved surface via the spring mechanism, the transparent functional film can be reliably adhered.

  In the functional film sticking apparatus of the present invention, if a moving base driving unit that moves the moving base in a direction orthogonal to the floating axis is provided, the transparent functional film can be stably attached to the tray-like component.

  In the functional film sticking device of the present invention, if the transparent part has a convex part on the surface on the transparent functional film sticking side, if a concave part that avoids interference with the convex part is formed on the pressing surface of the elastic pressing part, It becomes possible to affix a transparent functional film avoiding the said convex part.

  Moreover, this invention positions the tray-shaped components which have a transparent part on the movable stand which can move to a substantially horizontal direction, and the transparent adhesive sheet opposes the said transparent part with the transparent functional film with a transparent adhesive sheet. As described above, it is positioned on the tray-like component and is configured to be rotatable about a horizontal axis in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the moving table, and the developed shape matches the planar shape of the pasting range of the transparent functional film. The elastic pressing part being pressed against one side of the moving table moving direction in the transparent functional film, and moving the moving table, the elastic pressing part is rotated with the transparent functional film sandwiched therebetween, It is a functional film sticking method which adheres the transparent functional film to the transparent part of the tray-like component.

It is a perspective view of the transparent touch panel and housing | casing which are affixed with the functional film sticking apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a side view which has a part notch of the functional film sticking apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of the press roller shown in FIG. It is a front view of the functional film sticking apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the sticking object which can be stuck by the functional film sticking apparatus of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows another sticking object which can be stuck by the functional film sticking apparatus of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows another sticking object which can be stuck by the functional film sticking apparatus of this invention.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on the embodiments shown in the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a transparent touch panel as a functional film attached by a functional film sticking apparatus according to the present invention and a casing as a tray-like component.

  In the figure, a housing 1 is a component that constitutes a display unit of a mobile phone, and a transparent touch panel pasting range (hereinafter abbreviated as pasting range) S surrounded by a broken line is transparent at the center, The outside of the central portion and the outside of the pasting range S are decorated in a window frame shape by, for example, in-mold molding so as to conceal circuits, components, etc. provided inside the housing.

  In addition, S 'in a figure has shown the sticking surface shape (in this embodiment, a rectangular planar shape).

  Side walls 1a to 1d are erected around the casing 1, and in the figure, the upper side is the inner surface side of the mobile phone and the lower surface is the outer surface side.

  The transparent touch panel 2 has a three-layer structure in which an antifouling film is further laminated on a film with a transparent electrode in which a transparent conductive film is formed on a flexible transparent plastic film (transparent substrate). The total thickness of the transparent touch panel 2 used in the embodiment is 0.05 to 1 mm.

  The transparent touch panel 2 is attached to the inner surface of the housing 1. When a finger is touched from the outside of the housing 1, a capacitance is formed at the touched position and a weak current flows. By detecting the change, the coordinates of the touched position can be detected.

  The structure of the functional film sticking apparatus used for sticking the transparent touch panel 2 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 2 shows a side view of the functional film sticking apparatus 3.

  The functional film sticking device 3 has a pedestal 5 installed on a table 4, and four columns (guides) 6 to 9 (only the columns 6 and 8 on the near side are shown) are erected on the pedestal 5. . In addition, the support | pillars 6-9 are arrange | positioned at each corner | angular part of a rectangle seeing from the plane.

  A fixed table 10 arranged in a horizontal direction is fixed to the upper ends of these columns 6 to 9, and a main body 11 a of an electric cylinder (drive unit) 11 is fixed downward at substantially the center of the fixed table 10. .

  A lift table (movable frame) 13 is connected to the tip of the rod 11 b of the electric cylinder 11 via a spring mechanism 12.

  Sleeves 14 to 17 are attached to the respective corner portions of the lifting table 13 so as to pass through, and these sleeves 14 to 17 can slide the support columns 6 to 9 in the axial direction. Thereby, the elevating table 13 is moved up and down in the Z direction with the columns 6 to 9 as guides.

  The upper limit and the lower limit of the lifting table 13 are regulated by numerically controlling the electric cylinder 11. The lower limit is appropriately adjusted according to the thickness of the functional film to be attached and the thickness of the housing.

  The spring mechanism 12 includes a plate 12a fixed to the tip of the rod 11b, and a head-attached shaft 12b that hangs down in a state of penetrating each corner portion of the plate 12a. The lower end is fixed to the elevating table 13, and a compression coil spring 12c is mounted between the plate 12a and the elevating table 13 in the head-equipped shaft 12b.

  Further, a pair of arms 18 and 19 are suspended from the lifting table 13, and a pressing roller 20 is installed below these arms 18 and 19 so as to freely move around a support shaft 20 a as a horizontal shaft. ing.

  The pressing roller 20 includes a floating shaft 20b having a larger diameter than the support shaft 20a, and an elastic pressing portion 20c formed in a convex shape along the outer peripheral surface of the floating shaft 20b.

  FIG. 3 is a front view of the pressing roller 20.

  In the drawing, an elastic pressing portion 20c of the pressing roller 20 is made of urethane resin having a thickness of 10 mm and having a Shore hardness of 20 to 100, preferably 30 to 80. The elastic pressing portion 20c is wound in a C-shape substantially at the center in the axial direction of the floating shaft 20b. It has been.

  Specifically, in this embodiment, the elastic pressing portion 20c is wound over approximately 3/4 of the outer periphery of the floating shaft 20b. Thus, the elastic pressing portion 20c is not wound around the entire periphery of the floating shaft 20b, and is partially By providing the cutout portion M, one end portion of the transparent touch panel 2 placed with the circumferential end portion 20d of the elastic pressing portion 20c placed close to the side wall portion 1c in the moving direction (A direction) of the housing 1 is placed. 2a can be reliably pressed.

  The winding length of the elastic pressing portion 20c is appropriately changed in accordance with the size of the pasting range S of the transparent touch panel 2 within a range that does not deviate from the C-shape. Therefore, the support shaft 20a of the pressing roller 20 is It is comprised so that attachment or detachment with respect to the arms 18 and 19 is possible.

  Further, in conjunction with the movement of the casing 1 in the direction of arrow A, the elastic pressing portion 20c of the pressing roller 20 rotates in the direction of arrow B while pressing the transparent touch panel 2, and finally the other end of the transparent touch panel 2 It is possible to press up to 2b (see FIG. 1).

  In the initial position, a pressing roller positioning motor (illustrated) for rotating the pressing roller 20 is set in order to set the elastic pressing portion 20c in the illustrated posture (the cutout portion M is positioned at a position between 3 o'clock and 6 o'clock). Not).

  For convenience, FIG. 3 illustrates the pressing operation of the pressing roller 20 in a state where the housing 1 is stationary and the pressing roller 20 moves.

  Returning to FIG.

  The housing 1 is positioned at a pressing position by being fitted into a recess provided in a housing mounting table (movable table movable in a substantially horizontal direction) 21. Is supported by support legs 22 and 23. The support leg 22 slides on the rail 24 laid on the base 5, and the support leg 23 slides on the rail 25 in the depth direction of the drawing.

  Between the rails 24 and 25, a uniaxial slide device (moving table drive unit) 26 is provided.

  FIG. 4 shows a front view of the functional film sticking apparatus.

  In the figure, a uniaxial slide device 26 rotates a ball screw by a pulse-controlled feed motor, and moves a movable body 27 in the X-axis direction as the ball screw rotates.

  The movable body 27 is connected to the casing mounting table 21, and the casing 1 positioned on the casing mounting table 21 is controlled by controlling the pulse signal supplied to the feed motor and adjusting the rotation speed. Can be moved to a desired position.

  In the figure, 28 and 29 are sliders that slide on the rail 24.

  Next, operation | movement of the functional film sticking apparatus which has the said structure is demonstrated.

  It is assumed that the housing mounting table 21 stands by at a preparation position C for mounting the housing 1.

  The casing 1 is fitted and positioned in a recess provided in the casing mounting table 21 via a casing transport robot (not shown). When the feed motor is driven in this state, the case mounting table 21 on which the case 1 is mounted moves in the direction of arrow D.

  When the casing 1 moves to a position pressed by the pressing roller 20, the movement of the casing mounting table 21 stops.

  Next, the transparent touch panel 2 having a transparent adhesive sheet pasted on the housing 1 is positioned.

  The transparent touch panel with the transparent adhesive sheet is positioned above the housing 1 using a conventionally known positioning mechanism (functional film positioning mechanism), for example, a multi-axis robot.

  Specifically, in the vicinity of the functional film sticking device 3, a supply stage for supplying the transparent touch panel 2, a multi-axis robot for transporting the transparent touch panel 2, and the housing 1 are transported to the housing mounting table 21. A housing robot is provided for each.

  The multi-axis robot has an arm rotatable around a horizontal axis, and can move the arm to the X axis, the Y axis, and the Z axis.

  The transparent touch panel 2 is placed on the supply stage with the transparent adhesive sheet facing up. When the protective film of the transparent adhesive sheet is peeled off, the transport pad provided at the tip of the arm is used. The transparent touch panel 2 is adsorbed and transported toward the housing 1, and is rotated 180 ° around the horizontal axis in the middle of the transportation, that is, the transparent adhesive face sheet is directed downward and on the pasting range S of the housing 1. It is positioned through a slight gap.

  On the other hand, on the pressing roller 20 side, the posture of the elastic pressing portion 20c is reset so that the transparent touch panel 2 can be pressed against the housing 1 from just before the side wall portion 1c of the housing 1 (see FIG. 3).

  When the electric cylinder 11 is driven in this state, the rod 11b is lowered, and the circumferential end 20d of the elastic pressing portion 20c presses the one end 2a of the transparent touch panel 2.

  When the housing mounting table 21 is moved in the arrow E direction by driving the feed motor, the elastic pressing portion 20c is rotated in the arrow F direction by the frictional force between the elastic pressing portion 20c and the transparent touch panel 2, and the transparent touch panel 2 The transparent touch panel 2 and the casing 1 are bonded together while extruding bubbles existing between the casing 1 and the outside.

  The developed shape of the elastic pressing portion 20c is configured to coincide with the planar shape of the pasting range of the transparent touch panel 2 and does not press the periphery of the transparent touch panel 2 excessively, and therefore exists between the transparent touch panel 2 and the housing 1. The bubbles that are released are easily released from the outer peripheral edge of both.

  When the pressing by the elastic pressing portion 20c reaches the other end of the transparent touch panel 2, the feed motor stops.

  Next, the electric cylinder 11 pulls up the rod 11b in the direction of arrow G, whereby the elastic pressing portion 20c is detached from the transparent touch panel 2.

  Next, by driving the feed motor, the housing mounting table 21 is moved in the direction opposite to the arrow D direction and returned to the standby position.

  The functional film pasting process is completed by removing the housing 1 to which the transparent touch panel 2 is pasted from the housing placing table 21.

  5-7 shows the sticking object which can be stuck by the functional film sticking apparatus of this invention.

  FIG. 5 shows a case where a functional film is attached to the inner surface of the casing of the mobile phone.

  On the inner side of the casing 30 of the cellular phone, a functional film 31 is attached to a range colored with light ink in the drawing.

  As shown in the figure, according to the present invention, the functional film 31 can be pasted even if the surface to be pasted is bent in one direction, and a convex portion 30a exists in the middle of the pasting surface. Even if it is doing, if the recessed part is provided in the elastic press part 20c so that it may not interfere with the convex part 30a, the functional film 31 can be affixed also about the surface which has a convex part.

  FIG. 6 shows a case where the functional film 33 is attached to the inner surface of the housing 32 of the controller of the game machine.

  The controller of the game machine may be formed into a curved shape so as to be familiar to the hand. For such a pasting target, if the elastic pressing portion 20c is formed so that the developed view of the outer peripheral surface of the elastic pressing portion 20c has the same shape as the curved shape, the elastic pressing portion 20c also functions on the inner surface of the curved casing 32. The film 33 can be pasted.

  FIG. 7 shows a case where a functional film 35 is pasted on the display unit 34 of the notebook computer.

  If the functional film sticking device of the present invention is designed to have a large sticking specification so that the functional film 35 can be stuck on the size of the display unit 34, for example, a size of 17 inches, the functional film is not limited to the size. It becomes possible to paste.

  Further, in each of the above embodiments, the description has been given by taking, as an example, a tray-like component having a flat or partially inclined sticking surface. However, if the functional film sticking device of the present invention is used, a housing with a curved sticking surface is used. A functional film can also be applied to the body.

  When the functional film is attached to the case whose attachment surface is curved, the compression coil spring 12c of the spring mechanism 12 shown in FIG. It becomes possible to make the pressing roller 20 follow.

  In addition, according to the functional film sticking apparatus of this invention, a functional film can be stuck on the housing | casing whose curved surface is a maximum of 60R.

Claims (6)

Positioning the tray-like component having a transparent portion, and a moving table configured to be able to move in a substantially horizontal direction;
A transparent functional film positioning mechanism for positioning the transparent functional film with a transparent adhesive sheet so that the transparent adhesive sheet faces the transparent portion, with respect to the tray-like component positioned on the moving table,
A pasting mechanism for pasting the transparent functional film to the transparent part of the tray-like component;
The pasting mechanism is
A guide erected in a substantially vertical direction;
A movable frame that moves up and down along this guide;
An idler shaft provided at a lower portion of the movable frame and floating around a horizontal axis in a direction orthogonal to a moving direction of the movable table;
An elastic pressing portion formed in a convex shape in the circumferential direction along the outer peripheral surface of the floating shaft,
The functional film sticking apparatus, wherein the elastic pressing portion is configured such that a developed shape thereof coincides with a planar shape of a sticking range of the transparent functional film.   The functional film sticking apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transparent functional film is a transparent touch panel.   The functional film sticking apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a drive unit that raises and lowers the movable frame, wherein a spring mechanism is provided between the drive unit and the movable frame.   The functional film sticking apparatus of Claim 1 provided with the moving stand drive part which moves the said moving stand in the direction orthogonal to the said floating axis.   The functional film sticking device according to claim 1, wherein the transparent part has a convex part on a surface on the transparent functional film sticking side, and a concave part is formed on the pressing surface of the elastic pressing part to avoid interference with the convex part. . Position a tray-like part with a transparent part on a movable table that can move in a substantially horizontal direction.
Position the transparent functional film with a transparent adhesive sheet on the tray-like component so that the transparent adhesive sheet faces the transparent part,
An elastic pressing portion configured to be rotatable around a horizontal axis in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the moving table and configured to match a flat shape of a pasting range of the transparent functional film, the transparent functional film Press against one side of the moving table moving direction in
A function film affixing method characterized in that the elastic pressing part is rotated in a state where the transparent functional film is sandwiched by moving the moving table, and the transparent functional film is adhered to the transparent part of the tray-like component. .

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